18.53 lakh members, including 9.3 lakh new members, added to the EPFO in August

The Union Labour Ministry said that the growth in enrolments reflects increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits

The Employees’ Provident Fund Organisation (EPFO) had a net addition of 18.53 lakh members to its subscriber base in August. The payroll data, which was released on Sunday (October 20, 2024) said that in August this year, the growth in subscriber base was 9.07% when compared with August 2023. The Union Labour Ministry said in a release that the growth in enrolments reflects increased employment opportunities and heightened awareness of employee benefits.

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9.30 lakh new members were added in August 2024, representing an increase of 0.48% in new members when compared with August 2023. “This surge in new memberships can be attributed to growing employment opportunities, increased awareness of employee benefits, and EPFO’s successful outreach programmes,” the Ministry said.

Workers between the age group of 18 to 25 years constitute 59.26% of the total new members added in August. “In addition, the net payroll data for the age group 18-25 for August 2024 is 8.06 lakhs. This is in consonance with the earlier trend which indicates that most individuals joining the organized workforce are youth, primarily first-time job seekers,” the Ministry said.

Approximately 13.54 lakh members exited and subsequently re-joined the EPFO. “This figure depicts year-over-year growth of 14.03% compared to August 2023. These members switched their jobs and re-joined the establishments covered under the ambit of EPFO and opted to transfer their accumulations instead of applying for final settlement thus, safeguarding long-term financial well-being and extending their social security protection,” the government release said.

Of the new members, around 2.53 lakh are women and the net female member addition during the month stood at around 3.79 lakh. “The surge in female member additions is indicative of a broader shift towards a more inclusive and diverse workforce,” the release added.

Of all the States, Maharashtra is leading by adding 20.59% of net members during the month. “The states/UTs (Union Territories) of Maharashtra, Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, Haryana, Delhi, Gujarat, Telangana and Uttar Pradesh individually added more than 5% of the total net members during the month,” the government said.

Published - October 20, 2024 10:01 pm IST